UWA Publishing interviews Kaya Ortiz, the winner of the 2024 Dorothy Hewett Award for their unpublished poetry collection Past & Parallel Lives.
Kaya Ortiz is a queer Filipino poet of in/articulate identities and record-keeper of ancient histories. Kaya hails from the southern islands of Mindanao and Lutruwita / Tasmania and is obsessed with the fluidity of borders, memory and time. Their writing has appeared in Portside Review, Westerly, Australian Poetry Journal, Best of Australian Poems 2021 and After Australia (Affirm Press 2020), among others. Kaya lives and writes on unceded Whadjuk Noongar country, where their name means ‘hello’ in the Noongar language.
What was it like to win the 2024 Dorothy Hewett Award?
Absolutely surreal. I couldn’t believe it when I first heard the news, it was so unexpected. It took a few days before the reality of it sunk in, and I realised that I’m now an award-winning author at 29, which is beyond what I’d ever imagined when I first started getting published.
It’s such a huge honour to be named the winner of the Dorothy Hewett Award. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity and platform provided by the award, and I can’t wait for my debut poetry collection, Past and Parallel Lives, to be out in the world next year.
Can you tell us a little bit about your manuscript Past and Parallel Lives?
Can I be vulnerable here? I find it difficult to talk about Past and Parallel Lives honestly, to reveal its heart. I once wrote in an Instagram post that “this [manuscript] is my heart and soul and [also] this is a persona I created out of memory.” It’s strange and scary to have created something that is so much a part of me yet has evolved beyond me, becoming simultaneously a mirror and a doorway.
As a poet it is easier for me to speak in metaphors, so I’ll describe it like this: Past and Parallel Lives is longing and time and being split open and cleaved apart. It’s being haunted by everything but mostly just yourself. It’s every night you’ve laid awake flicking through the past like a photo album, picturing every crossroads branching off into parallel lives you’ll never live. It’s the crushing weight of what you’ve lost and will never get back. It’s “crawl[ing] on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting”, before you realise, finally, that “you do not have to be good” (Mary Oliver, ‘Wild Geese’). It’s the faint beeping of a far-away beacon calling you back to yourself.
Can you tell us about your writing journey up until this point?
I’ve been writing since I was a child – short stories, plays, then angsty teenage poems, even a fantasy novel that I never finished. My parents were very encouraging right from the start, and I decided quite young that I wanted to be a writer. Uni quelled the spark for a while, but then, back in 2016, I picked up writing poetry again and couldn’t stop. I discovered spoken word poetry and attended open mics religiously. I fell in love with the thrill of sharing poems and connecting with people through my words.
I devoured the work of other poets, and became obsessed with the art and craft of words, the magic they could conjure. I started getting published in 2018, and a year later I fully committed to pursuing writing as a career. And I don’t know how, but I feel like the universe heard that because opportunities began coming my way as if falling from the sky – big commissions like the After Australia anthology, fellowships and mentoring programs and more over the last five years. I feel so incredibly lucky to have received so much support from different organisations and the writing community in general. I wouldn’t be where I am otherwise, so I truly think it does take a village, so to speak.
Who are your biggest supporters and inspirations in your life?
My partner Jen is an endless source of support and inspiration. When I met her it felt like I had jumped into an alternate timeline, one where everything is possible. She changed the trajectory of my life, and my manuscript wouldn’t exist without her.
My family have always been very supportive, and very gracious readers. A while back my mother said something along the lines of, “whatever you need to write, just write it, don’t worry about us,” an offering I don’t take lightly. Family and family hi/stories are also very present in my poems. I'm interested in who and where I come from and all the ways they shape my identity.
I’m also greatly inspired by the local community of writers and poets. There is so much wonderful talent in Boorloo/Perth. And I’m so grateful to have had so much support, especially from local organisations like the Centre for Stories, WA Poets, and Westerly, along with many generous people who have offered mentorship, advice, or passed my name along for opportunities. It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of and something I hope to embody as well.
What are some of your favourite poetry collections by an Australian author?
That’s hard to narrow down, but I’ll try!
Flood Damages and TAKE CARE by Eunice Andrada. Flood Damages came to me at a pivotal moment in my life. Andrada’s poetic voice is so strong and assured, it pushed me to keep developing my own and made me want to be a better writer. And TAKE CARE is powerful and brilliant.
Paradise (point of transmission) by Andrew Sutherland is incredible. Every poem is a banger, infused with layers of literary and pop cultural references and subtle humour. Clean by Scott-Patrick Mitchell is proof that SPM is a master of their craft. Throat by Ellen van Neerven feels like coming home. And everything by Omar Sakr (The Lost Arabs, Non-essential Work) is a necessity.
What is your hope for the future?
That’s a big question.
I think a lot about the past and about time, but the future can be a bit heavy. The things I hope to see in the world can feel impossible at times, and I can’t think of the future without thinking about justice and liberation, about indigenous sovereignty and land back and capitalism and climate change, and what it means to live a good life. I know I am extremely privileged to live safely in so-called Australia, and to have access to resources that mean I can keep writing, keep doing what I love. I hope for a world that makes this possible for everyone.
Past and Parallel Lives by Kaya Ortiz will be published by UWA Publishing in early 2025.